When I pulled in to Ellijay, people gathered on lawn chairs and on benches and steps, crowds stood, it looked as if a parade were about to pass through town.

Twenty-five minutes before, I’d stopped in a Walmart parking lot — I was early coming into town and thought I’d check for the rare Polaroid pack in the store. I pulled up, and dozens of white men gathered in the parking lot, speckled with teenage girls, women. They weren’t in their white robes yet, but I knew right away who they were.

Thirty minutes later, chants of “White power! White power” were cheered on by half the crowd, while the other half shouted “White trash! White trash!” back.

The Knight Riders of the Ku Klux Klan stood behind barricades, behind cop cars, behind more than 50 law enforcement officers, and across the street from the crowd, at the Gilmer County Courthouse in Ellijay, Georgia. All this on the anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.

Horrible access and lots of hatred coming from both sides, yet a really powerful and interesting thing to witness.

More of my exploration of the Deep South can be found in this gallery, that is due for a new edit: Facing South.

When I pulled in to Ellijay, people gathered on lawn chairs and on benches and steps, crowds stood, it looked as if a parade were about to pass through town. Twenty-five minutes before, I'd stopped in a Walmart parking lot -- I was early coming into town and thought I'd check for the rare Polaroid ...